Evolution

FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT EVOLUTION

This month marked the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth. His “On the Origin of Species,” has left a lasting impact on how we view our world. How do you think Darwin’s theory of evolution has affected your faith? The Zen practitioner is a scientist. Through meticulous observation, he or she studies his or her own mind — the way thoughts and emotions actually arise, expire or repeat. People tend to take this inner dialogue for granted and do not question it. Zen practitioners also carefully study the situations and events of their daily life.

I couldn't speak, I couldn't breathe, and my stomach felt like it was about to shoot upward. My dad was sitting right next to me and he was silent too. My arms and legs were stretched out and the only thing keeping me from falling hundreds of feet to an unknown fate was the shoulder harness on the ride Evolution at last year's Orange County Fair. I was suspended in this position for what seemed like an hour, but it was probably only 10 seconds. Then the hot dog stand with the colored blinking lights began to slightly move to the right.

Evolution a good reason to study science For once I can agree in part with Wendy Leece ("Parents Talk Back," June 7) when she ascribes the lack of interest and poor performance of our grade and high school students in science and mathematics to "a materialistic lifestyle and noisy media [which] encourage ease and laziness instead of rigorous exercise of the mind," but I cannot agree that the teaching of evolution or "new math ideas" have much to do with the problem.

Keep intelligent design out of public schools This is in response to a Community Commentary by Rick Rainey ("Pilot columnist too accepting of evolution," Feb. 26). If it gives Rainey comfort to believe in a busy God facilely creating planet Earth, as well as the millions upon millions of present and extinct creatures in his celestial lab, then so be it. Every known culture and civilization has sought some answers to the great questions of whence we came and whither we go. If Rainey is really interested in creation mythology, then he should know that the Old Testament's version is among the least interesting, inventive and exciting of the genre.

I'd like to take exception with Joseph Bell's column ("Censorship deprives all students of full education," Feb. 1) in which in one grand sweep he "backhands" Wendy Leece and "clears up" the creationism issue. Personally, I agree with Wendy Leece in the examination of the viability of questionably controversial new books to the school reading list. There are many people in the local populace who would rather err on the side of conservativism when it comes to keeping unnecessary sex, violence or abuse out of the educational environment for our young people.

If he were still alive, today would be Stephen Jay Gould's birthday. Sadly, the renowned paleontologist and science historian died of cancer in 2002. "The Simpsons" lovers will remember a characterization of him on the cartoon shows. Science fiction lovers will remember him as one of the heroes who saved the day in Jack McDevitt's "Ancient Shores." And readers of Natural History magazine know him from his unequaled 300 consecutive monthly columns, "This View of Life." He said: "The telephone is the greatest single enemy of scholarship; for what our intellectual forebears used to inscribe in ink now goes once over a wire into permanent oblivion."

In her rebuttal to Eleanor Egan ("Educators should be able to challenge evolutionary theory," Jan. 11), Wendy Leece has once more muddied the waters of public discourse with unverifiable statements and religious buzzwords. She ends her rebuttal by calling for more religion in public schools, even though that is neither permitted under the Constitution nor desirable in a pluralistic society -- especially because belief in a conflict between evolution and religion is peculiar to America and a conservative fraction of American Protestants.

Humans might share the physical stages of growth and reproduction with animals, but humans differ in spiritual growth. The story of human evolution is mentioned in the Quran (23:12-14). After mentioning the physical stages, Allah asserts that "then, we developed out of it -- human -- another creature," meaning that, from an animal life, Allah creates human life with all its capacities and responsibilities. IMAM MOSTAFA AL-QAZWINI Islamic Education Center of Orange County There are a number of different takes on this within Judaism.

Greer Wylder At Kura Sushi, once customers touch a plate, it's theirs. Customers watch covered plates travel around the sushi bar and pass by booths, helping themselves to cut rolls, edamame, desserts and even kid's toys. A gliding belt moves at 8 centimeters per second, which was proved through testing to be the right speed for grabbing plates. The novelty, new to Costa Mesa, is the craze in Japan, where more than 5,000 kaiten sushi restaurants serve plates on conveyor belts.

I have always been captivated by how humanity explains its presence in the world and how it views itself in the universe. If we go by most accepted historical facts, humanity as we know it, modern homo sapiens, began on the planet some 40,000 to 60,000 years ago, during which there were several ice ages, many floods and a lot of dark cold nights. Each generation had to feed itself, create communities to protect itself and figure out the cycles of the seasons, the sun and, most importantly, the moon.